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Battling was something Taylor was familiar with, something that would always feel normal to him. The way his blood almost sang as it courses through his veins, the way his mind raced at one hundred miles a minute as it processed the scene. Being in a battle put Taylor back in his element and he was itching to prove that he could be one of the best.

"Treecko, get that Sandshrew with Leaf Storm!"

He watched patiently as his green gecko-like Pokemon twirled in a circle, its arms outstretched and its tail flying. A few leaves, seemingly from nowhere, gathered around Treecko's spinning form, and after a moment, he stopped spinning and directed the leaves towards the opponent's Sandshrew.

While Treecko had gathered up its weak storm of leaves, the Sandshrew had kicked up its own storm. It was kicking sand towards Treecko and Pichu and it was giving Ellie a hard time as she tried to direct bolts of lightning towards the Buizel opposite her.

Treecko's leaves shot through the cloud of sand and struck the Sandshrew, who immediately stopped kicking up sand in order to cower from the highly effective attack. As the dust began to settle, Taylor called out, "Now, Treecko, use Quick Attack!"

"Pichu, use Thundershock!"

Shocks of electricity followed Treecko to the other side of the battle field as he raced in for a close range attack. The opponents Sandshrew quickly slashed out, but Treecko plowed ahead, slamming his body into the ground-type Pokemon.

"We can so win this," Ellie muttered, smiling as she ordered her Pichu to use Volt Tackle. Their opponents were commanding attacks as well and soon the field was filled with fallen leaves, sand, and puddles of water. It's like a beach, Taylor thought comically.

Buizel was the first Pokemon to faint. It had just finished clubbing Ellie's Pichu away with its tail when it was struck again by another wave of electricity, Ellie's call for Thundershock echoing slightly in their small arena. The electric attack jolted the water weasel, who fell backwards in a faint. Immediately, a bell pinged from the electronic scoreboard and the light faded from behind Buizel's picture.

"Only one more!" Taylor cheered. It would be easy now that Pichu was able to help out Treecko.

Taylor's fantasy was short-lived, however, when their lone opponent called, "Sandshrew, use Dig!" In a flurry of dirt, the Sandshrew was gone, only a hole left in its place.

"Be careful," Ellie warned, her eyes scanning the field for any sign of the Sandshrew.

The small crowd that had gathered to watch suddenly gasped as the ground began to shake. Sandshrew appeared, bursting from the ground beneath Pichu and flinging the electric mouse into the air. It cried, out, electricity flying from its body in a last-ditch attempt at an attack, but it was too late. When Pichu landed again he was knocked out.

Taylor could practically feel Ellie's anger radiating off of her as she recalled her fallen comrade to his Poke Ball. She turned to the hockey player, eyes blazing like ocean water in the sunlight and growled, "Kick his butt, Tay."

The battle was over fairly quickly after that. It was almost as if Ellie's emotions were fueling Taylor too because suddenly he had the drive to win. He wanted it, needed it, and he wasn't going to stop until those Poketches were secured firmly on his and Ellie's wrists.

"Treecko, use Leaf Storm and then follow up with Quick Attack!" Taylor ordered. Another storm of leaves raced towards the Sandshrew, who dove out of the direct line of fire. It whimpered slightly as a few leaves scratched its scaly exterior, but before it could regain its footing, Treecko was already slamming it backwards into the ground. After a moment of rolling around in the dirt, a third bell rang and the light behind Sandshrew's picture diminished.

"Congratulations to Taylor Lightwood and Eleanor Toews," a voice on the sound system announced. "Winners over on battlefield five!" Taylor and Ellie shook the hands of their opponents before making their way through the crowd back to the stage.

"Here you are," the registration lady said, meeting Taylor and Ellie near the microphone. "Two new Poketches for you."

"Thanks," Taylor beamed, slipping the new watch onto his wrist and handing the lady his old one. He watched Ellie do the same before he flung an arm over her shoulders and waved at the crowd. Shrieks could be heard and Taylor just knew Ellie was rolling her eyes.

"No need to be jealous, Elles," he whispered into her ear. He could feel her stiffen under his arm, but a moment later, Ellie relaxed. She leaned up to Taylor's ear and whispered back, "I think you should be telling that to them." She ducked her way out from under his arm, waving sweetly to the crowd before bouncing off the stage, leaving Taylor alone, confused, but still grinning.

'"I am not going to let go," she insisted, grasping her lover's hand tightly. "Help us up, please," she called, so her best friend to help both of them up off the cliff they were dangling from. Loyal as she was, the best friend agreed to do so, grabbing onto the first girl's arm tightly and beginning to pull. The lover, however, had other plans; letting a quiet apology escape his lips, he began to loosen his grip-'

At that point, the pencil in her hand dropped, and Brielle stooped down to pick it up. Clicking the mechanical pencil to load more lead, Brielle decided to look at the battle's status once more. Liam's opponent ended up being directly in her line of sight. Looking over him, he seemed to have changed. He had looked so calm and confident before - understandable given the situation, Brielle thought - but that smirk quickly faded, in place of a menacing look of contempt. Liam, on the other hand, noticed the sudden hostility in his opponent's voice, and decided to ask him if he was alright after the match.

Said opponent snarled at his Piplup, telling it to dive straight into the Water Gun and towards Liam's Ducklett. As Liam had feared, the barrage of water was not nearly enough to make the penguin falter at all. Brielle winced as the penguin's beak collided straight with Ducklett's body.

"Duck-LETT!" the little duck cried, crashing to the ground as the water stopped spouting from her mouth. Liam bit his lip in frustration. The attack seemed to have hurt Ducklett more than he thought it should have. However, she didn't stay on the floor for long, as she slowly got up again in a battle-ready pose. Just attacking straight on wouldn't work at all, Liam realized. Perhaps if he tried some sort of evasive tactics, he'd win soon; it would take a lot of patience, but a win would be a win.

Or, at least, he thought that was how it went.

Liam decided he would try that. "Ducklett, are you all right?" he asked his Pokemon, who turned around to nod in determination. "Okay then...er, just keep using Water Gun and try to dodge as much as you can!"

The Ducklett flapped its wings to fly off the ground a little, sending more blasts of water towards Piplup, but she was obviously growing weary herself - as much as she or her trainer hated to admit it. Brielle closed her journal, putting the pencil and notebook back into her backpack. She had the feeling that the battle would soon be over, judging from how tired Ducklett appeared to be, and had always been the type to prepare for departure ahead of time. Standing up, she put her backpack on and went to the shop, deciding to return when the battle was over.

Piplup's Peck hit home and, judging by the sharp pain Ducklett appeared to have experienced, a weak spot had been struck. Nonetheless, the duckling tumbled across the ground, only to get up seconds later.

"Ducklett, are you all right?" the duckling's trainer asked, recieving an affirmative nod. "Okay then...er, just keep using Water Gun and try to dodge as much as you can!"

Ducklett began to flap its wings, rising into the air, as it sprayed multiple Water Guns at Piplup. Despite the duckling's show of bravado, it was clearly weakening.

A sinister Cheshire grin slowly crept across Elliot's face.

It was time to finish this.

The blue eye twitched. Jason's persona faded away for the moment as Elliot's more arrogant demeanor returned. The grin, however, remained.

"Oh, dear," Elliot said through his malevolent grin. "I see you're getting somewhat worn out. Let us help you with that. Piplup, use Bubblebeam to launch yourself into the air!"

"Pip?" Piplup squeaked, looking at its trainer to make sure it heard the command correctly. One of Ducklett's Water Guns slapped Piplup's head, however, and the penguin grew too angry with its opponent to care for the quality of its trainer's orders.

As Elliot had ordered, Piplup fired a stream of small blue spheres into the ground, the force of the attack's recoil launching the small penguin high into the air. One Piplup was above Ducklett in terms of height, it awaited further orders.

Ducklett blinked, trying to fly out of the way as Piplup started to descend. She was nearly out of the penguin's range when it rammed into her once more. Again she crumpled to the ground, this time not having enough strength to get up. "Oh, no," said Liam, running over to his Ducklett and picking her up. "Hold on for a moment, I've got to heal Ducklett up first!" With that, he returned his Ducklett into the Pokeball, dashed over to the Pokemon Center, and headed to the town's resident Nurse Joy.

"Oh, what do you need, young man?" asked the nurse, who was currently looking over at some of her Chansey that were taking care of other trainers' Pokemon.

"My, uh, my Ducklett...well, I just lost a battle and-" Liam was suddenly cut off by Nurse Joy.

"Is that so? Not to worry; we'll have it fixed up in a bit." With that, she took the Pokeball from Liam's hand and with her into another room, and although it was merely a few minutes, it seemed like hours for the impatient bird-keeper. "Here," said the nurse, emerging from the room with the Pokeball in her hand. "It should be completely revitalized now!"

"Thank you," Liam said with a grin, taking back his Pokeball and running back outside.

Brielle had watched the end of the battle unfold, and as Liam returned from the Pokemon Center, she shot him a blank stare. "What?" Liam asked, a look of confusion on his face.

"See, it's just like I told you, you shouldn't be battling people so quickly like that," Brielle replied, a bit harshly. Her voice quieted to a near whisper as she continued. "And to add insult to injury, a guy seemingly younger than you defeated you."

"You're right. I guess. Not that there's a problem with that." Liam shrugged and grinned sheepishly, before remembering his opponent was still there. He walked up to him and smiled. "Sorry for leaving so suddenly. But anyways, you're pretty good! Also, are you okay? You seemed kinda...er...less calm for a moment."

I was thankful that most of the trainers were too busy with their own pokemon to notice me. I didn't have anything against trainers, but I was a tad nervous with battling right now as I had spent a while not battling at all, unless you considered virtual battles battling. I was glad when I stepped Jubilife City as my zorua was wiped out with the constant practicing and battles against wild pokemon. It was worth it though. In the process of all that battling, zorua learned fury swipes. I needed to get zorua attended though as those starlys were very annoying after a while. I was glad that zorua was generally getting better though. Those first few scratches were embarrassing to say the least. She would attempt to scratch and miss and then stumble while the opponent would either laugh or take advantage of the still recovering zorua. I was glad that she quickly became quicker with each progressive battle to the point where I didn't have to worry so much about accuracy and could worry more about power and timing. Granted, she had fake tears down packed real good. Those first few battles where she had lost due to inexperience, after those battles, she would put up a real good cry and then when I tried to comfort her, she would hit me with her paw with a pouting face. It took me a while, longer than I'm ashamed to admit, to see through her fake tears.

I also realized that if I was going to keep travelling, it would be nice to have a map to work with as I was prone to getting lost. I was just lucky this time. I admired the city, even though in my mind it didn't look as pretty as Celadon City did. I eventually found the pokemon center and walked eagerly in. Although I wouldn't train zorua for the rest of today, I needed her to be healed just in case something happened. I greeted the nurse at the counter, not questioning how there were a lot of Nurse Joys and how eerily they looked similar, and asked her to heal my zorua. While she was off doing that I sat in one of the lounge chairs, watching the news. One bit of the news did cause to me to listen carefully. It was something about contests and while I normally didn't care for showing off, what the contest was about did sound interesting. I did blanch at the idea of having to dress up as I wasn't a big fancy of dresses. I could wear them, but I'd be very irritated at the end of the day, especially if it was something I didn't want to wear. After watching the promotional contest video, I relaxed in the lounge, waiting for Nurse Joy to call me over with my healed zorua.

Piplup's last blow finished Ducklett, sending it crumpling down onto the ground. Piplup made an equally-abrupt landing, slamming head-first into the ground due to a lack of mid-air control. Elliot grinned, knowing that this victory was the first step towards greater things. Ducklett's trainer, however, had other ideas.

"Hold on for a moment, I've got to heal Ducklett up first!" the duckling's trainer cried, recalling his bird and dashing into the Pokemon Center.

"You did quite well for your first battle, Piplup," Elliot said. "We will, however, have to work on your skills in aerial combat. Your landing was...how should I phrase it...less-than-graceful."

Piplup gave an embarassed chuckle as it rubbed the back of its head. Ducklett's trainer came out of the Pokemon Center, and after a quick conversation with a somewhat moody-looking girl, he approached Elliot once again.

"Sorry for leaving so suddenly," the boy said. "But anyways, you're pretty good! Also, are you okay? You seemed kinda...er...less calm for a moment."

Having multiple personalities would most likely be a hinderance in this situation. Elliot, however, did not particularly care whether or not people knew of his disorder. Only if it interfered with his plans would he keep it a secret, and at the moment, that was not the case.

"Ah, I assume you are referring to Jason," Elliot said. "Forgive me. My name is Elliot...and yet that identity is only half of the larger puzzle that is my body. The other half is represented by Jason, who you are already familiar with."

He smirked.

"They say that two heads are better than one," Elliot grinned. "If that is so, than two minds in one body would naturally be superior to a single mind in a single body."

Piplup only stared at its new trainer. Its trainer had a multiple-personality disorder? No wonder his behavior was so odd! But...how had he become this way? And how would it affect his relationships with his Pokemon? The disturbingly casual tone he took when describing his condition was a sign of unpleasant things down the road, to say the least.

"Well, as I'm sure you understand, I must be off," Elliot said. "I must thank you for an excellent warm-up for my future battles. Until we meet again."

And with that, Elliot recalled his Piplup and turned to leave Sandgem Town.

After Liam had asked his question, the boy responded politely. "Ah, I assume you are referring to Jason," he said, and Liam raised an eyebrow before the boy started to speak again. "Forgive me. My name is Elliot...and yet that identity is only half of the larger puzzle that is my body. The other half is represented by Jason, who you are already familiar with."

Multiple personalities, remarked Brielle in her head. She made a mental note to use that in a future story.

Liam realized this a few seconds after, and Elliot smirked. "They say that two heads are better than one. If that is so, than two minds in one body would naturally be superior to a single mind in a single body." The bird keeper blinked. Elliot seemed more casual about the subject than he thought. And with that, Elliot announced that he would be leaving, thanking Liam for the warm-up. Before Liam could say anything else, he was already walking off.

"Aw, darn it," Liam sighed, turning towards Brielle. "I forgot to tell him our names." He clicked the center of Ducklett's Pokeball. A white light shone, and out came Ducklett, fully refreshed and smiling a little. As usual, she flapped her wings and landed on Liam's shoulder.

"I have a feeling we'll see him again," the writer replied, adjusting her backpack. "Come on, shall we head back to Jubilife? There's a contest there, and I need to get started on earning the ribbons."

"Oh, sure, sure," Liam said with a wave of his hand. He turned around and started walking back the way the two of them came from, Brielle quietly following behind.

"Sorry, Ducklett," he said to the duckling perched on his shoulder, who only gave him a happy, forgiving look. Then Liam looked to Brielle. "Not sending your Pokemon out?"

Brielle simply shook her head, her pace quickening a little. "I'll send them out later."

---

Jubilife City's Contest Hall was really not too hard to spot; it was one of the more eye-catching buildings in the bustling city. The two neighbors stood in front of it, taking in their surroundings.

"Well, Brielle. Are you going to go practice or something? I bet there's a practice hall somewhere in there," Liam said, scratching the back of his head.

Brielle shrugged. "I suppose I do need to get ready. I highly doubt I'll do well otherwise."

With his first victory under his belt, Elliot traversed Route 202, a smirk across his face. The Ducklett boy was just the first. Soon, dozens--hundreds--of trainers would fall beneath the power of his Pokemon. And then...then, once he was strong enough...his father would suffer.

Oh, how he would suffer. Every minute of loneliness and torment...Elliot would make his father pay for it in full. It would be so deliciously perfect that a Champion's son would prove his downfall.

"Starly!" chirped a small dark-colored bird that rushed out of the bushes. It stared at Elliot, as if expecting a battle. The boy merely sighed and released his Piplup.

"Piplup, use Peck and get this over with," Elliot said with as bored a tone as possible. "I've no interest in this miniature excuse for a bird."

Piplup slammed its beak into Starly's chest, quickly striking a weak point and instantly fainting the Starly. The fallen bird now lied flat in front of Piplup, who turned around and posed proudly.

"Pip?" Piplup squeaked, using one wing to indicate the unconscious Starly. "Pip, piplup?"

"I'm not catching that stupid bird!" snapped the Jason persona following a quick twitching of Elliot's brown eye, angrily punting the Starly into the grass. "Now shut up and return!"

Jason whipped out Piplup's Pokeball and sucked the penguin back inside. Once it did so, his blue eye twitched again, and Elliot returned.

"Well...now that this little business is settled, let us move on," Elliot smirked. "I dare say we may be winning our first ribbon soon."

****

Jubilife City was one of Sinnoh's largest cities, but by far the two most noticeable buildings were the Contest Hall and the Poketch Company's building. Elliot, however, had no interest in the device. He instead entered the Contest Hall, looking around. There was at least one practice hall for new Coordinators to devise routines, which would greatly aid virtually every user. A devilish grin spread across Elliot's face.

Signing Up For The Contest!

Caroline
Jubilife City, Sinnoh
Current Team: Chimchar & Misdreavus
Ribbons: 0/4
(I'll have my characters wait in the contest hall and my next post will start it. Caroline's appeal is going to be first. By the way, after the Jubilife Contest, how about we have our characters go to sleep at the Pokémon Center or something? We could do that frequently throughout the RPg.)
"Zachy, hug me!" Caroline said to Zach when she noticed she was hugging him, but he wasn't.

Zach sighed as he noticed he had laid his hands down. As if getting hugged by Caroline was already crazy enough for him, but hugging her would just be insane.

"N-No," he protested. Suddenly, he noticed her about to cry and impulsively hugged her and pulled her close.

"Wow, Zach! I'm so surprised at you! Now you're hugging me back? Awesome!" She said out loud as she hugged Zach tighter. "Ya know what? For being such an awesome person to me so far, I've got a little gift for you." She reached into her backpack and put on red lipstick. Caroline proceeded to kiss Zach.

Just as her lips touched his cheeks, a man in a purple suit appeared. The very small kiss left an equally small mark on Zach's cheek. He wiped it off, which prompted Caroline to whisper, "Don't wipe off my kisses."

The man in the purple suit introduced himself as the president of the Pokétch Company and offered Zach and Caroline each a Pokétch. "I hope you don't mind red for the gentleman and pink for the lady," The two nodded as the Pokétch Company president left them to their business.

After Caroline got her Pokétch on, she smiled and put Zach's on for him.

"Now give me a thank you....." She started.

"Thank you!" Zach replied.

"....kiss." Caroline finished.

Zach was shocked, but still gave her a tiny kiss on the cheek. Though it was quick, the kiss felt amazing for Zach.

"Oh my gosh! You are just surprising me so much! Next thing you know, you'll say you love me!" Caroline said before she saw Zach's shocked expression. "Come on, let's go sign up for the contest!"

Caroline got up, much to Zach's relief (a little) and they exited the building.

Outside, Zach asked, "Do you have to use the bathroom before we go to the contest?"

Caroline shook her head no. "My bladder is empty." She did have a tiny urge to pee, but shrugged it off. Zach was a bit skeptical, but sighed.

First they went to the Pokémon Center and got a badge case and ribbon case, which they placed in their bags.

Then, they went to the contest hall, where Caroline signed up for it. She found out that the contest would start in a little bit and she'd be the first appeal. As she made her way backstage, she noticed how huge the stage was and panicked.

"Oh god, I'm so nervous," She proclaimed.

"Like pee your pants nervous?" Zach asked.

"A little," Caroline sighed as she sat down.

Zach sat right next to her, rubbed her legs and said, "Just stay calm and relax. You'll do fine!"

Piplup leapt into the air and directed a Peck towards the ceiling. Although it reached a suitable distance, the penguin flipped back onto the ground after a moment.

"Excellent," Elliot grinned. "I believe our appeal is ready."

"Pip-lup," Piplup nodded, proudly putting one wing on its chest.

With an amused smirk, Elliot recalled his Piplup and left the practice hall. He noticed the girl whose friend he had defeated in Sandgem Town, but paid her no mind as he went to the registration desk and signed up for the Contest. Once he had done so, he simply seated himself in a chair, distancing himself from the other entering Coordinators.

Elliot put a hand to his chin as he observed his competition. The Ducklett trainer's friend would most likely enter, but she had no Pokemon out that he could identify. A pair of other trainers, one male and one female, were engaged in a rather lovey-dovey conversation. Elliot snorted arrogantly. The girl would probably be too distracted by her boyfriend to pay attention to her own appeal.

No, the one he had to worry about was the other girl, the Ducklett trainer's friend. She appeared calm, reserved, and seemed to know what she was doing. In addition, she appeared to have two Pokemon in contrast to Elliot's lone Piplup. With this in mind, she had the potential to be something of a problem.

But all Elliot had to do was visualize his father's downfall, and a sinister smirk came to his face. Experience was the prime factor here. Should he win, his Piplup would become stronger. Should the girl win, the experience would allow Elliot to learn from his defeat and grow stronger regardless. Either way, he benefitted even if he did not win the ribbon.

Elliot grinned. Once he was strong enough...once he had conquered the League and Grand Festival...his father would pay. Oh, yes, he would pay. He would pay dearly for abandoning his son. And the pain, the humiliation, that he would suffer would be glorious.

Just as long as Elliot took things one step at a time, his eventual victory was assured.

After a lot of arguing and shouting, Taylor and Ellie finally wound up at the Pokemon Centre in the middle of Jubilife City.

"We're going to need cases and stuff for all the badges we're going to win," Ellie argued. "You can't lose those badges, Taylor."

Taylor rolled his eyes. He had had every intention of just throwing the badges into his backpack upon receiving them, but Ellie had grown red in the face at the mention of it.

"You need to present all eight to the League or else they won't let you compete in the end."

"What does it matter to you?" Taylor asked. "If I don't get in there's a better chance of you winning." He watched in amusement as Ellie's mouth opened and closed as she tried to compose a response. He knew that she was trying to decide whether or not she wanted to argue the fact that she could beat him easily or if she wanted to continue talking about the badges.

She chose the badges.

"Tay, please," she said, and Taylor was a little dismayed to discover how uncomfortable the request made him feel. This was probably as close to begging as Ellie was going to get, but even then, to see past her normal bravado was a little unnerving.

"Fine," he grumbled, pushing the door open to the Pokemon Centre.

They had spent so much time arguing about the badge and ribbon cases ("You're getting a ribbon case too?" Ellie had asked Taylor, eyebrows raised. Taylor had shrugged indifferently. It didn't hurt to try a contest every once in a while, right? And he would probably win them too, because he was just awesome like that.) that by the time Ellie checked her Poketch she discovered that the contest would be starting soon.

"Now look what you've made me done," Ellie grumbled as they ran through the city towards the contest hall. "Made me late for my first contest."

"Not like you're going to win anyway," Taylor replied, which earned him a smack in the arm.

The lady at the registration table took one look at Ellie and Taylor's disheveled looks and handed them paperwork right away.

"Oh, I'm not entering," Taylor said, handing back the forms as Ellie scribbled in her name and address.

"Just here for moral support?" the attendant asked, winking. Taylor didn't really want to think about what that meant so he pushed Ellie along towards the dressing rooms in the back before the lady said something else equally embarrassing.

"I don't think you should be back here," Ellie said as she disappeared into one of the curtained stalls to change into a dress. Taylor had no idea why Ellie needed to change. Her clothes were fine enough for him.

She's not trying to impress you, Taylor thought to himself. The idea was so obscene that he blushed. "Whatever, just hurry up," he said, tapping his Poketch experimentally. It had a lot of new apps on it that his old one hadn't ...

The curtain swung back revealing a very refreshed looking Ellie. Her jeans and t-shirt were discarded for a floral print sundress that showed off her toned legs and arms. Her hair had been artfully arranged into a messy looking bun and her make-up had been readjusted. It was a good look for her.

"You clean up nice," he said, trying to sound casual.

"Thanks," Ellie said. She was clearly still distracted but she smiled at Taylor and pushed him towards the door. "Go find a seat in the stands," she said. "You're making me nervous."

Taylor wanted to ask why but with a final shove on his lower back, Ellie pushed him out of the dressing room, leaving Taylor standing awkwardly in the hallway. He wasn't quite sure why his heart was racing a little more than usual or why he had the sudden urge to flatten his hair where he constantly ran his fingers through it, but he also knew that if he took the time to think about the issue, he wouldn't like the answer. So, instead of dwelling on it, Taylor took Ellie's advice and climbed into the stands, settling himself in a prime position to watch the action of Ellie's first contest.

The Contest Begins!

Caroline
Jubilife City, Sinnoh
Current Team: Chimchar & Misdreavus
Ribbons: 0/4
(Now we can get the contest started. I do wish some people would get to the contest hall soon. Anyone who hasn't joined yet can still join, but just have your characters (if they enter) sign-up first.)
Caroline tried to calm down, but she found out that she was going to be doing her appeal first. This made her really nervous and now she really had to go pee.

Caroline crossed her legs and groaned. "Caroline," Zach said. "You like you have to go to the bathroom. Why don't you go and then change into your contest clothes? I don't want to see you wet yourself on stage." He was speaking quietly so no one else could hear and so Caroline wouldn't be embarrassed.

"I-I'll just hold it. I'm first and could be called down any minute for my appeal," Caroline explained. She continued crossing her legs.

Zach sighed. "Alright, fine. Good luck."

They did have to wait a bit, in which time Caroline could have easily went to the bathroom and also changed into a dress.

"We have 16 hopeful contestants, but only 8 will make it onto the appeal round. Now, may our first contestant please come on stage!"

"OK, that's you, Caroline. Just stay calm and hopefully you can ignore the urge to pee," Zach said.

Caroline nodded as she kissed Zach and then wobbled to the stage.

On the way to the stage, her urge to pee grew stronger. She crossed her legs, tightly, but peed a little. It didn't seem like much and now the urge to pee went away for a little. Caroline had her Misdreavus's Poké Ball in hand and ran to the stage before anything bad could happen.

At the stage, a curtain opened, which revealed Caroline. The thousands of fans that were in the audience made Caroline a bit nervous, but she put that aside her.

"Misdreavus, come on out and use Mean Look!" Caroline called out as threw the ball in the air and Misdreavus popped out.

Misdreavus' eyes glowed red as the audience seemed trapped and were glued to Misdreavus.

"Awesome, now spin and use Psywave!" Caroline commanded.

Misdreavus floated into the air as Misdreeavus' eyes glowed blue this time. A multi-colored beam appeared and as Misdreavus spun, it created many sparkles from the attack.

"OK, I'm done!" Caroline said as the audience clapped.

"Now let's see what our judges have to say," Marian said as everyone turned to the judges.

Caroline casually crossed her legs because she felt she might have to pee soon.

"I understand that this was your first contest, young lady. Fairly decent for a first time," Mr. Contesta explained.

"Remarkable!" Mr. Sukizo commented.

"Very nice job. I like how you had the audience trapped and made such beautiful sparkles from Misdreavus and Psywave." Nurse Joy complimented.

Caroline thanked them as she recalled Misdreavus and went to backstage. When she left the stage and was heading backstage, she gasped as she started peeing!

Caroline ran and when she was backstage, she grabbed her bag from Zach and went into the bathroom.

"Can't believe I just did that!" Caroline said, completely shocked. She peed her jeans!

Zach knocked on the door. "Everything alright?"

"I'll be out soon!" Caroline called back, feeling very sad, almost at tears, as she changed into cleaner jeans and wiped off her makeup.

She reemerged from the bathroom and sat down next to Zach.

"I just peed my pants. Must've still been a bit nervous. Ugh, this is so annoying!" Caroline complained as she rested her head on Zach's shoulder.

"Well now everything is good. You changed and your appeal was pretty good considering this is your first time and how nervous you are," Zach explained.

I didn’t have to wait long to be called from the lounge to pick up my pokemon. Although I was told to let zorua rest for the rest of the day, I had plans that didn’t involve zorua exerting herself at all, at least physically. I thanked the nurse and clipped zorua’s poke ball onto my necklace. I walked out of the pokemon center after getting some directions from the nurse as to where the contest hall was located. I admired how the buildings looked modern, but it was way too city like as there wasn’t much greenery in the town. Unlike Celadon where we had a pond in town, this town looked more like it was suited for business people and less on trainers. I easily found the contest hall since it had a fancy appearance on the outside with a ribbon above the entrance. I walked through the doors and saw that it wasn’t too crowded. I walked up to the reception desk and was greeted by the woman.

“Hello, are you here to enter the Jubilife City contest?”

I shook my head and said, “No, I don’t feel ready yet to enter the contest, but if possible I would like to go ahead and have the registration done so I won’t have to worry about this.”

The woman smiled and replied, “That’s okay. You missed the deadline to enter this contest anyways, but I can go ahead and get you registered so you can enter contests held in the Sinnoh Region. I just need a form of identification, preferably a pokedex.”

I nodded and rummaged through my bag and grabbed my pokedex and handed it to her and she nodded and placed the pokedex in a slot. After entering a few commands, she handed me my pokedex back and then placed a few items on the desk that intrigued me. When she saw my questioning look, she explained each item to me.

“What I’m giving you is the starters kit that all new contest trainers receive when they register for the first time in the region.” She pointed at the ball capsule and said, “This is a ball capsule that you will use when you first start the appeals round and battle rounds.” She pointed at the star sticker and said, “This is a capsule sticker that you can place on the capsule. By using different stickers or even adding the same stickers, you can enhance your pokemon’s entrance which can help or hinder you. Be careful though as these stickers are one time use so be sure to buy more when you stop at a pokemart.” She then pointed at the last item which appeared to be a license and said, “This will serve as your ID and contest pass in Sinnoh. You will be able to enter contests with this and gain access to training grounds nearby to practice.”

I smiled and said, “Thank you. I will be sure to think about this when I decide to make my entrance. But for now, is the contest under way and can I watch it? I’d like to see how it works and then decide on what to do after that.”

The receptionist smiled and replied, “Of course, there is a contest that is just about to start. You have to pay a small fee to watch though.”

I nodded and paid the small fee to watch the contest and entered the room where they would be starting the contest in. To me, it looked like an auditorium with a large stage that had a battlefield on it, down the trainer boxes and lines. I found a seat near the middle of the auditorium. I released zorua who looked tired. I quietly spoke to her, “Hey zorua, would you like to watch this contest with me? I need to know if you’re interested in doing this.”

Zorua looked up at me and nodded so I held her in my arms so she could see over the seats. Of course she could have transformed into an identical version of me, but I guess she was more tired than I thought she would be. I focused my attention when a voice announced that the contest was starting.

I watched as she did her routine and saw that the attacks that were called out were done differently. Instead of going for effectiveness, the attacks relied on being more showy so some of the power from the moves were lost and that the moves themselves required more effort to affect their appearances. Then again, it could be from special foods that were cooked just for people interested in contests that the effects came from the moves. It appeared to be interesting for me as it meant that in contests, you needed a fine control of power and creativity. Although I didn’t know how appeals went, I think the appeal was sort of okay. I sat there as I watched several more do their appeals.

After spending so many days with him, Ellie felt almost like she was missing a limb as she waited nervously backstage. She watched as the first girl went out, looking as nervous as Ellie felt, and performed her appeal. The judges seemed to like it and now Ellie was wondering if she should have practiced at all; she hadn't done anything to prepare Pichu for the contest and now she was going to have to rely on the fact that they'd been together for ages and knew each other well in order for her appeal to look good.

"Can we have our next contestant please?" the MC called from the stage and, steeling her nerves, Ellie took to the stage.

The bright lights trained on her prevented the basketball player from seeing into the stands, but it helped her to know that Taylor was out there somewhere. Or, at least, she thought he was. The idea that her lab partner wasn't there was a little frightening to Ellie, but she couldn't allow herself to think like that. Taylor wouldn't leave her at the contest. He was mean to her sometimes, but that was just cruel.

"All right, Pichu, let's do this," Ellie murmured, tossing her only Pokemon's ball out in front of her.

Her Pichu appeared in a flash of white light, shaking out his fur as he materialized on stage. He grinned cheekily at the crowd and sat up on his back legs, charming the judges.

Perfect.

"Let's start things off with Thundershock," Ellie ordered. She watched as electricity gathered around Pichu's face, sparks appearing from the pouches on his cheeks. With a squeaky cry, he released the pent up electricity, letting the small bolts and waves explode from his body. The result was dazzling and the audience applauded politely.

"Great, and now, use Volt Tackle," Ellie said. It was an attack that they hadn't quite mastered yet and while it was still an effective tool in battle, Ellie knew that it would be awhile before her Pokemon would be able to fully engulf himself in electricity. Still, she was pleased to see as a faint yellow glow surrounded her Pokemon. "Now jump and spin!" Ellie called.

Pichu smiled again at the crowd and leaped into the air, spinning rapidly. Once again, bolts of electricity went flying from his body, dissipating over the crowd. The audience cheered and Ellie curtseyed before recalling her bowing Pichu to his Poke Ball.

"Let's see what our judges have to say," the MC said over the applause.

"Quite remarkable," Mr. Sukizo exclaimed, beaming at Ellie.

"Short and straight to the point," Mr. Contesta added. "I like that."

Ellie thanked the two judges and turned to Nurse Joy, the third and final judge. "I think you have a lot of potential," the nurse said kindly. "I can't wait to see you as blossom and grow."

With a final curtsey, Ellie turned and strode off the stage. The judges' comments made her confident that even if she wasn't going to the second round, she had a lot of natural talent when it came to appeals. It wouldn't be long before she began winning contests, she figured.

The contest hall's receptionist blinked, looking down at the quiet young girl at her desk. "Yes, what would you like?"

"My name is Brielle Tenner. I'd like to apply for today's contest, if that isn't much of a problem." Brielle adjusted her hat, then glanced around.

"Do you have a ribbon case?" asked the receptionist, raising an eyebrow. The fourteen-year-old shook her head. "Well, then, you should take this," said the receptionist, handing her a ribbon case. She then turned to the computer to the right of her and began to type Brielle's name into the contest list.

"Thank you," Brielle said politely, seeing this and knowing she was registered. She then walked into the practice hall, a must-see for any fresh, starting coordinator, and placed her backpack on a chair. She zipped it open, taking out her outfit and Duskull's Pokeball. She figured she would use the ghost here, because she couldn't actually see what an appeal would be like with just a Leech Seed and Stun Spore combination. Then she looked towards the practice stage.

It was about time that she get started.

---

Liam looked around expectantly in the grass, trying to find any interesting things to catch. Clearly his Ducklett wouldn't be enough firepower to get to the top alone, so he'd have to catch something else. But what? thought Liam, putting a hand on his chin and thinking for a moment.

Nothing to see here, thought Liam, looking around. Trees, trees, grass, trainers, roads- hey, what's that? His eyes stopped on a little red bug lying in a grass patch. Of course Liam had seen those before; they were Kricketot. Regardless, he flipped his Pokedex open and read what it said about the cricket Pokemon.

"So it's a short-legged creature that can make xylophone sounds with its head," Liam said, closing his Pokedex and grinning. He reached for a Pokeball. "Sounds like a nice catch! Go, Ducklett!"

---

"Now land, and end with a bow," instructed Brielle, and Duskull did just that, ending the appeal Brielle had thought up for the fifth time. "Excellent," the girl said, smiling slightly. "I think we're ready enough now. Let's go."

She entered the dressing room, and closed the curtain behind her in one of the stalls. In just a few minutes, her usual cardigan and skirt were replaced by a more professional outfit made by none other than her sister. She had a pea coat on now, azure as always and unbuttoned, and complemented that pea coat with a business skirt in a shade of black. Her shirt was now a tint of gray, but her hat remained on her head - if there was any nickname she'd have to be called by the other competitors, she'd have preferred to be called "that girl with the hat." Or "the writer." Either one worked for her, really.

She looked at her short self in the mirror with her vacant stare, before nodding and walking out of the dressing room. She was ready, she assured herself as she walked to the contestants' waiting room, taking a seat and opening her trusty notebook.

---

Ducklett had executed a well-aimed blast of water, and Liam grinned in excitement. While the Kricketot had caused complications with its Bide attack the first time, he knew his little blue bird wouldn't fall. "Great job, Ducklett! Fly back quickly, it's going to unleash Bide again!" Ducklett recoiled, flying into the air with a smile just as the Kricketot charged towards the duck Pokemon. The little bug couldn't jump that high, it seemed, and all the energy it had stored up had been wasted.

"Now, Ducklett! Water Gun from behind!" Liam called, fumbling around in his backpack for a Pokeball. The bird did as he asked, and spat out a jet of water as fast as it could. The water rammed into Kricketot's back, knocking it over temporarily. The bird watcher found a Pokeball at this point, and threw it straight towards the fallen red bug.

The ball released a flash of light, and dropped to the floor. It wiggled and continued to wiggle for a couple of seconds. Still, the hasty boy felt as if it would take forever before he'd know the answer. Ducklett herself looked across on the opposite side in a battle-ready pose.

Ding.

Liam's grin got even wider, and he scooped the Pokeball up happily. "That's that!" he said to Ducklett, who flew back onto his shoulder. "All right, let's go heal up and then we'll troop over to the contest hall, understand?" The little duck nodded, and the two went back into the city.

---

The contestants Brielle faced were certainly eye-catching - at least, a certain few were. At one side of the room there were two kids, younger than her no doubt, engaged in romantic conversations. Brielle couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at them and smirk - she knew better than to interrupt them, though. Across from her was the boy with the multiple personalities; Elliot was his name, the girl remembered. She would have to pay attention to him, seeing as he had easily beaten Liam in his first battle. Then there was another girl, with a very toned body, waiting on her own like Brielle and Elliot; Brielle assumed that she went outside often.

Marian's voice announced the contest's start right then, and the first one to appeal turned out to be the little romance girl. She got up, and then after her, the sundress girl stood to perform her appeal. Both had impressive appeals, and as the girl in the sundress went back to her seat and some other random person stood up, Liam entered the room.

"I saw those appeals on TV," Liam said, sounding slightly out of breath as he took a seat next to Brielle. "But, y'know, you'll do as good, right?" He didn't give Brielle a chance to respond, continuing with, "Of course you will. When that person gets back to their seat, you're next, so good luck!"

Brielle stared at the screen. She would probably need that luck in a matter of moments.

Several contestants had gone in the time that Elliot spent waiting. First was the romantic girl, who used a Misdreavus. Elliot found her appeal a bit cheap, using Mean Look to forcibly attract the audience's attention before showing off Misdreavus' Psywave. Despite this, as well as the girl's apparent nerves, the judges thought she did fairly well.

Following the appeal from the Misdreavus trainer came a girl who used a Pichu. Although clearly inexperienced, Pichu nonetheleless performed decently, making good use of its moves. Elliot noticed that the small Electric-type was capable of using Volt Tackle, but had not quite mastered the move yet. If he was to battle her, he would need to cut off her journey while Pichu's threat level was still lower than it could be.

The girl who was friends with the Ducklett trainer took some time to practice, rehearsing her appeal with a Duskull. She had not, however, proceeded onto the stage. Elliot raised an eyebrow as she took a seat, as if expecting her to speak to him.

Elliot greatly preferred that he go last. This way, he could accurately assess whether or not the other Coordinators would be any challenge. Thus far, only the girl with Pichu posed any sort of threat, and that was primarily because of her Pichu's type advantage over Elliot's Piplup. He had no idea what the Duskull girl was capable of, but judging by the amount of time she spent in her notebook, he imagined that she could be quite creative with her appeal, which would put his own appeal in jeopardy.

Elliot looked down at Piplup's Pokeball as he held it in his hand. The penguin would most likely not approve of Elliot's preferrance to wait. In addition to that, the Duskull-training girl seemed quite nervous, even with the encouragement of her Ducklett-training friend. Elliot grinned as he smelled an opportunity.

"Well," Elliot said to the Duskull girl, "which of us shall go next? Will it be I, or you?"

A sinister smirk crossed his face.

"Either way," he said, still smirking, "one of us has to put out quite a bit of effort in front of dozens--if not hundreds--of people. I may be judging a book by its cover, so to speak...but are you sure someone like you is adequately prepared for this sort of endeavor?"

This could have one of two effects. Either the girl would be suitably intimidated by the details Elliot provided, or her resolved would be strengthened. Either way, there was only one way to find out.

Caroline
Jubilife City, Sinnoh
Current Team: Chimchar & Misdreavus
Ribbons: 0/4
(So SoulMuse & Billy Mays have unfortunately had to quit. Now we have me, DOP, Purple, Morpher, Slipomatic, Krazy & Mon1010. That means we have 9 trainers and 6 Coordinators, so things are more even. By the way, don't forget about the Discussion Thread. Oh and I think our characters should start talking soon, so they can learn each other's names.)
Zach & Caroline watched an appeal from a girl with a Pichu. The Pichu seemed pretty talented and it even used the move Volt Tackle. Though the move hasn't been perfected, it's not like Zach or Caroline could have done better. Still, Caroline greatly enjoyed the appeal and could probably learn a thing or two from her.

After the appeal, Caroline said, "Man, I can't believe I peed myself. Should have just went to the bathroom first."

"Well," Zach replied. "At least no one seemed to notice. Even if they did, it's no big deal. Also, you changed, so it doesn't matter anymore."

"Yeah," Caroline nodded as she picked her head up from Zach's shoulders. "I just hope I made it past the appeal round."

Zach nodded and then got up. "Let's go and talk with the other contestants. How about the girl with the Pichu? You seemed to like her appeal."

Caroline nodded and they got up and went over to the girl. She wasn't with anyone, though Zach & Caroline figured she had someone rooting for her in the stands.

"Hi," Zach said as they reached the girl. "We saw your appeal and you did a great job."

"Yeah. By the way, my name is Caroline and this is my friend, Zach. You've probably seen my appeal. Nerves REALLY got to me. What is your name?" Caroline said as she asked the girl her name.

"I don't think I need to be reminded of that fact," said Brielle to Liam as her friend took a seat. She smiled a little, yet an observant one would be able to notice the slight trace of tension in her look.

"By the way," said Liam in a carefree way, "You look great in that outfit."

"Thank you," Brielle said plainly, knowing that Liam wasn't actually flirting with her. The current appeal on the screen had been just as showy as the Pichu girl's appeal, and seemed to leave just as much of an impression. She compared the appeal she had planned out in her notebook to the ones she had already seen, and felt that she'd have to make a few changes. Just to be safe, she thought to herself as she crossed out some points and added others.

It was a minute or two before Elliot spoke up and her eyes met with his. "Well, which of us shall go next? Will it be I, or you?" Again came that smirk he had shown against Liam. Brielle was silent, waiting for the boy with the multiple personalities to finish speaking. Liam raised an eyebrow at this, then looked back up to the screen, his foot tapping impatiently.

"Either way," Elliot said with that sinister grin, "one of us has to put out quite a bit of effort in front of dozens--if not hundreds--of people. I may be judging a book by its cover, so to speak...but are you sure someone like you is adequately prepared for this sort of endeavor?"

Brielle knew where the boy was going with this. The genre savvy person that she was, the girl realized that by saying that, Elliot had attempted to throw her off - and, she presumed, temporarily eliminate her from his competition. "I will be going next," confirmed Brielle to the other competitor, "and I am quite sure that I'm prepared for this." That should give him a straight answer, she thought, standing up as the person before her finished her appeal.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I must be going," she said, walking away and out onto the stage.

Liam watched all this with curious eyes, then looked at the younger kid. "Well, that was pretty interesting." He said to himself, and looked at the screen. "So, Brielle's next! I can't wait to see what she's gonna do."

Quickly changing topics, he grinned and looked at Elliot. "Oh, right, I forgot to tell you our names last time, didn't I?" He scratched the back of his head sheepishly before continuing. "I'm Liam, and that girl was Brielle." The aspiring Bird Keeper held out his other hand, attempting to shake hands with the professional kid.

---

Meanwhile, Brielle had stepped onstage, and looked out at the crowd before her. As much as she had said she was ready while talking to Elliot, she couldn't help but suddenly feel as if many things were at stake with this appeal. She then realized that it was probably worse at the Grand Festival, and thus she willed herself to take out the Pokeball from the pocket of her pea coat. The audience stared expectantly, and with as much force as she could muster, Brielle threw the Pokeball upwards.

The Pokeball opened, and Duskull came out in a shimmer of white light. The ghost floated down, and just as they had rehearsed, he performed an Astonish as he landed to really get the crowd's attention.

"Okay, you have them looking at you," confirmed Brielle. "Now, fly to the side, and use Night Shade!"

The ghost Pokemon complied, and his eyes began to glow a light shade of blue before a beam was shot out towards the ground. Quickly, it disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the stage and kept firing beam after beam; Brielle was satisfied to find that the appeal had created a brilliant light show. At this, the audience let out some "ooh"s and "aah"s. In the midst of the light show of dark beams, Duskull had disappeared; Brielle waited for a few moments as the light show began to wear off. "Astonish again! Land and end with a bow!"

Duskull reappeared, quickly floating down and in the front of the beams, using Astonish in the meanwhile and making himself stand out. The audience cheered, and he bowed politely before Brielle returned him to his Pokeball.

"Just as planned," whispered Brielle to the ball. "Great job." She then turned towards the judges, hoping that she had made some sort of impression.

Of course, Mr. Suziko had grinned. "Remarkable and eye-catching!" he said. Really, with him, Brielle noticed that the appeals were either judged as unremarkable, or, well, the other way around.

"The use of the Night Shade as a light show was a very uncommon tactic," Mr. Contesta noticed, on the other hand. "Interesting choice, seeing as it seems to be your first contest." That was two judgements of approval, Brielle counted, and she nodded at the two men before Nurse Joy began to speak.

"Your appeal seemed very concise," she said with a smile. "I hope to see what else you'll plan out in the future!"

Brielle bowed, thanking them politely as she quickly walked backstage once more, reclaiming her seat next to Liam.

"I will be going next," she said, "and I am quite sure that I'm prepared for this. "Now if you'll excuse me, I must be going."

She left, but the Ducklett trainer remained behind. Despite not being a Coordinator, he appeared to be there for the purpose of supporting his evident friend. The Ducklett boy began speaking again mere seconds after the Duskull girl had departed.

"Well, that was pretty interesting." he said to himself, looking over to a television screen where the stage was displayed. "So, Brielle's next! I can't wait to see what she's gonna do."

The boy grinned and looked over to Elliot, who raised a questioning eyebrow in response.

"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you our names last time, didn't I?" Ducklett's trainer said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "I'm Liam, and that girl was Brielle."

He held out his hand. Elliot looked down at his hand for a moment, smirking. Then Elliot's brown eye twitched, and an unpleasant sneer signaled the return of Jason.

"You really expect me to act like your buddy?" Jason snarled. "I've got better things to do than have tea parties with every trainer I meet!"

The blue eye twitched, and Elliot returned.

"Ah...my apologies," Elliot said. "Jason, however, does bring up a good point. To be perfectly honest, I am not here to make friends, nor am I here for silly titles like 'Top Coordinator' or 'Pokemon Master'."

He watched Brielle's appeal out of the corner of his eye, and smirked.

"Your friend...Brielle, was her name?" Elliot continued. "Perhaps she is prepared for the path she has chosen. She does seem to know what she is doing."

Brielle's appeal soon finished with a final Astonish, and as her Duskull was recalled into its Pokeball, the judges gave their thoughts.

"Well, is it that time already?" Elliot smirked. "Seems it's time for my own appeal."

He got out of his chair, preparing Piplup's Pokeball.

"And now that I have a good idea of what I'm up against," Elliot grinned, "this should be quite simple."

Brielle returned to the waiting room, and as she did so, Elliot departed. He was recieved warmly on stage, but he merely gave an arrogant wave of his hand.

"Now that I have your attention, let us begin," Elliot said.

Without another word, he released his Piplup from his Pokeball. The penguin stood proudly there, knowing exactly what to do. All it needed was for Elliot to give his orders.

"Piplup, begin with Bubblebeam," Elliot said.

To direct the attack, Elliot pointed in a rather shocking direction--the judges' podium. Nonetheless, Piplup fired its Bubblebeam, sending a line of bubbles straight towards the judges. The bubbles, however, bounced off of the side of the podium and headed towards the back wall. The bubbles then ricocheted off of the wall, barreling back down towards Piplup.

"Excellent," Elliot grinned darkly. "Now, use a repeated Peck."

Piplup steadied itself, waiting for the bubbles to come. It then used its beak to fling each bubble above its head, allowing gravity to bring them back down as it was about to fling the last one. The penguin managed to perform this in such a way that there was now a tower of bubbles mounted on Piplup's beak.

"And now, the finale," Elliot said. "Use a spinning Peck!"

Piplup began to twirl rapidly, causing the bubbles to shatter into glittering droplets from the force of Piplup's improvised drilling attack. The penguin jumped up, quickly cut through the collapsing tower, and performed a frontward-flip to end its appeal. It posed once again, proudly folding its wings across its chest. Elliot confidently glanced over to the judges, awaiting their decision.

"That was remarkable!" Mr. Sukizo commented, although given his reputation, Elliot had fully expected him to say something along those lines.

"That was quite interesting," Contesta remarked. "You were clearly aiming to show off your Piplup's skill and power, and I believe you accomplished that greatly."

"Piplup is just so cute!" Nurse Joy smiled. "I hope to see it more in the future."

Elliot gave a short bow to the audience, Piplup following suit as it was recalled. The dark-haired boy then left the stage, returning to the waiting room. Rather than sit, however, he simply leaned on a wall and eyed the television screen, knowing that the scores would be up shortly.

((I don't know who Ellie is supposed to be talking to? Unless it's just an NPC because Taylor's out in the stands and he's a guy so ... yeah. I don't know?))

Ellie came bouncing in off the stage, a smile finally gracing her features. She felt good about her performance and now she could just sit back and watch the others. On her way back to the backstage area, Ellie passed another girl on the way and tried to smile encouragingly; she wasn't sure if the girl had seen her, but it hardly seemed to matter. The other girl looked like she was focusing on her upcoming appeal too much.

Upon entering the backstage lounge, Ellie found herself watching the other appeals via video monitor. She was also able to catch a glimpse of her own appeal. Pichu's Volt Tackle was less than stellar, and it reminded Ellie that she needed to practice that move. In fact, maybe she could even convince Taylor to help her ...

"Hi! We saw your appeal and you did a great job."

Ellie turned her head slightly, checking to confirm that the voice was, indeed, speaking to her. She saw two kids, younger than her by quite a bit, who had wide, friendly faces. The boy - brown hair, brown eyes, Ellie noted - seemed to be a Piplup enthusiast and the girl (whom Ellie recognized from the appeal before her) was dressed to the nines in her contest appeal. Her similar features made Ellie wonder briefly if they were siblings, but the way that they conducted themselves around each other told her otherwise.

"Oh, hi, and thanks!" Ellie replied, smiling. She automatically reached for a piece of hair to twist around her finger but remembered that she had put it up for her appeal. Awkwardly, Ellie smoothed her hand over her hair, hoping that it didn't look too strange.

"Yeah. By the way, my name is Caroline and this is my friend, Zach. You've probably seen my appeal. Nerves REALLY got to me," the girl said.

Smooth, Ellie, she thought, cringing a little at her choice of words. It made her wish that Taylor were here; for whatever reason he just seemed to be a lot better with people than she was, which was weird. Ellie was popular at school, so why was it so hard to make friends in the rest of Sinnoh?

As if sensing she had been thinking of him, Ellie's eyes were drawn to movement in the far side of the room. Taylor slipped through the door and Ellie waved him over.

"Great job," he said, bumping her hip with his and smiling. It seemed so genuine that Ellie was momentarily caught off guard. She and Taylor were hardly ever civil to each other.

"Uh, thanks," she said, returning the grin. "Uh, Taylor, this is Zach and Caroline. Guys, this is my ... friend, Taylor. We're traveling together." If Taylor noticed the awkward pause in Ellie's introduction, he didn't let on. Instead, he just smiled and offered a hand to Zach and Caroline.

Caroline
Jubilife City, Sinnoh
Current Team: Chimchar & Misdreavus
Ribbons: 0/4
(So I think everyone has entered the contest and posted their appeals, so we can start the next round. Caroline wont be making it past the appeal round, but I assume everyone else will? If some people aren't, I'll change this post. After this contest, I was thinking our characters could eat somewhere and then go to sleep (or just go to sleep). Anything you guys want to get done after the contest?)
"Nice to meet you, Ellie." Caroline shook Ellie's hand. "Thanks. I just hope I and did enough to pass, you too."

Zach & Caroline watched as one of Ellie's friends came by and introduced himself as Taylor. Zach shook hands with him as Ellie introduced Zach & Caroline to him.

"Thanks, Taylor," Caroline said to Taylor when he complimented her appeal.

There wasn't much appeals left before Marian appeared on the TV monitor that they had backstage.

"There you have it folks, all the appeals are finished and our judges have decided on which 8 will make it to the next round. The next round is a battle round, now take a look and see which lucky 8 coordinators will move on to the next round!" Marian announced.

The TV screen changed to a blank screen, which started filling in with 8 faces. Caroline was hoping she would make it and squeezed Zach's hand hard. Many faces went by and Caroline didn't see her's appear. She wasn't paying attention for Ellie and when the 8th face was about to be revealed, Caroline was very anxious.

"Please be me, please be me, please be me!" She said in her mind as she kept on squeezing Zach's hand. Unfortunately, it ended up being someone else. Caroline was devastated and put her head down.

Zach let go from Caroline's grip and said to his new friends, "We'll be back in just a minute."

He moved her away from everyone else and said, "Please don't cry. It's only your first contest,. There will be so many more to enter and win. Don't let one loss get you down."

Caroline sighed and was about to protest before Zach hugged her. "Th-thank you, Zach! I needed that!" She hugged him back and gave him a little kiss on the cheek before heading back to Ellie & Taylor.

"You made it," Taylor pointed out as the television clicked off and the picture disappeared to blackness.

"Thanks for the newsflash," Ellie shot back, but she couldn't help the smile from sneaking onto her face. She had passed the appeal round and was moving on to the battle round. Beside her, she could feel Taylor shifting from foot to foot, clearly pleased with her success.

Ellie watched in amusement as Zach and Caroline stepped away from her and Taylor. They were so young but they seemed very much infatuated with each other.

Or perhaps they're simply infatuated with the idea, Ellie mused. She watched as coordinators moved past her to take the stage, preparing themselves for the battle round.

"Sorry you didn't make it to the battle round," Ellie offered as Zach and Caroline rejoined her. "You'll get there next time."

Out of the corner of her eye, Ellie could see Taylor inching away, clearly deciding that he was going to head back to the stands for the battle round. After seeing Zach and Caroline, and even some of the other contestants, however, Ellie felt nervous. She grabbed at Taylor's wrist, halting his progress immediately. "Stay?" she whispered, daring a glance up into his eyes.

There was a slight pause before Taylor nodded, shrugging his broad shoulders. "Sure," he replied, sinking down onto one of the couches, his wrist slipping free from Ellie's grasp.

A few minutes later, Ellie's face appeared on the television screen next to a boy named Étienne Dupont. He was stunningly attractive in a way that took Ellie's breath away. She didn't even know that teenagers could look that good, for he couldn't have been much older than her at all.

"Knock him dead," Taylor called from the couch as Ellie made her way towards the stage. There was something in his voice that made Ellie turn at the last minute, but Taylor was conversing with someone who had sat down beside him. The tone had surprised her, but she couldn't quite place what it was, so instead, she sashayed out onto the stage.

The bright lights from the appeal round had been dimmed slightly. Across from her, Étienne glided out onto the stage. His brown hair curled messily across his head and even from a distance, Ellie could see how the lights reflected across green eyes. He flashed her a dazzling smile of perfect white teeth and cute dimples and Ellie could practically feel herself swooning.

Stop that, she scolded herself. You're stronger than that!

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, back the first round of the battles!" the MC called. "After that last thrilling battle, we now present to you these two beautiful coordinators, Eleanor Toews and Étienne Dupont!"

The crowd cheered and Ellie could hear many of the young ladies in the audience shouting their approval for Étienne.

"Last Pokemon standing or the Pokemon with the most remaining blue in its meter by the timer is the winner," the MC reminded. He gestured to the large video screen behind Ellie and Étienne to indicate the meters that showed how many points each coordinator would lose for taking a hit. His comment brought Ellie back to the stage and she set herself to focus. This was just another basketball game and this was just another tip-off.

"Coordinators, you may begin!"

"Alright, Pichu, come on out," Ellie said, tossing Pichu's Poke Ball high into the air. It exploded in a flash of light, revealing her tiny electric mouse to the audience.

"Pawniard, let's do this!" Étienne called. Ellie was surprised to hear the lilting accent fall from his lips. With a name like Étienne, she hadn't been expecting the tone that it carried.

"Pichu, start things off with Thundershock," Ellie ordered. Her Pichu paused where it stood, electricity flying from its cheek pouches before releasing a large blast of electric energy. Étienne's Pawniard dove out of the way, but not quite fast enough. A jolt of electricity coursed through its armoured body and Étienne's meter decreased slightly.

"Follow up with Volt Tackle," Ellie called.

"Counter with X-Scissor!" Étienne replied.

The two Pokemon raced towards each other, Pichu flickering with faint electric power while Pawniard's twin bladed arms pulsed with energy. At the last moment, Pawniard dove out of the way, slashing at Pichu's sides as he barreled past. The electric mouse let out a squeak of surprise and pain as he tumbled his way across the stage. Ellie gritted her teeth as her meter dropped a significant amount.

Judging from the little amount of interactions that Ellie had had with Étienne already, she could tell that he preferred sharp movements and speed as opposed to straight on attacks. If she was going to beat Étienne then she was going to need to play a smarter game than him.

"Pichu, try another Volt Tackle," Ellie said. She tried to add desperation to her voice, as if Étienne's attack had shaken her.

"Head Butt," Étienne replied.

For a second time, the two Pokemon raced toward each other. The crowd cheered and gasped and waited with baited breaths, and at the last moment both trainers ordered for their Pokemon to dodge.

"Now use Thundershock!" Ellie ordered.

Her Pichu, already brimming with electricity from preparing Volt Tackle, released a powerful blast of electricity, flooding the stage and making the lights flicker. There was nowhere for Étienne's Pawniard to run and the attack hit him head on. He dropped to a knee as Étienne's meter dropped significantly. This was Ellie's time.

"Tackle it," she called to Pichu.

Despite the height difference, Pichu managed to knock Pawniard onto his back. The two rolled on the stage, both meters and the timer running low. Ellie needed to finish this.

Clearly, Étienne was thinking the same thing. "Fury Swipes!" he called out as Ellie ordered for another Thundershock.

Pawniard didn't really stand a chance. At such a close range, Pichu's attack was just too much. It shocked the Sharp Blade Pokemon severely and Pichu was knocked away as it flailed about before fainting.

Just in time too.

A second later the buzzer sounded, signalling not only the end of the battle, but also that the timer had run out.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the round is Miss Eleanor Toews. She will be moving on to the next round. Let's hear it for our coordinators!"

The crowd cheered as Ellie and Étienne returned their Pokemon to their Poke Balls. They met at centre stage and Ellie extended her hand for her opponent to shake. She was surprised, however, when Étienne pulled her into a hug and kissed both her cheeks.

"Next time, love," he said with a smile that made Ellie's heart melt. She could hear the complains from girls in the audience but she simply nodded shyly, wishing that her hair was out of its bun so she could twist the strands. Étienne gave her hands one last squeeze before exiting the stage, leaving Ellie to bask in the spotlight for another moment before she too took her leave.

Backstage, Ellie was congratulated by several of her fellow coordinators, but she couldn't see Taylor anywhere.

"Do you know where my friend went?" Ellie asked one of the other coordinators.

"Oh, the tall guy with the freaky scar?" the boy replied. Ellie nodded curtly, feeling her blood boil at the crude description that he had given Taylor. "Oh, yeah. He left just after you won your battle. Not sure where he was off to though."

Ellie frowned. Maybe Taylor had to go to the washroom or was hungry or something. At any rate, she couldn't leave the backstage area. She had to prepare for the next round, mentally and physically. The battle against Étienne had exhausted her in a way that she wouldn't have associated with contests, but more than that, Étienne had exhausted her. He was so gorgeous that he left Ellie's heart beating wildly and her lips quirking into a smile.

Liam blinked, lowering his hand as Jason angrily rejected his handshake offer, Elliot then explaining why in a more polite manner. "Okay, okay, if you say so," said he, slightly creeped out. There was an awkward silence before Elliot spoke again.

"Your friend...Brielle, was her name?" he asked, glancing at Brielle's appeal on the screen. "Perhaps she is prepared for the path she has chosen. She does seem to know what she is doing."

"That's Brielle for you," the bird keeper said, his usual demeanor returning. "Calm and in charge." At that exact moment, the appeal ended, and as Brielle returned to the waiting room, Elliot stood up. The appeal round was almost over.

Liam grinned and gave Brielle a thumbs-up as she sat down. Used to silent gestures like this, Brielle merely nodded back, before looking towards the screen and watching Elliot's appeal. Finally, the boy with the Piplup went back inside and leaned on the wall. Marian appeared on the screen then, with a wide grin and a cheery voice, telling the audience that the results would be up soon. "Oh man, the moment of truth!" he whispered to his neighbor. The writer stayed silent as six of the faces appeared on screen. So far, none of them were Brielle herself. The seventh face was shown and Brielle's calm look faltered; she silently urged for fate to go her way and show herself as the eighth contestant.

The eighth contestant was none other than herself - her prayers had been answered. She breathed a sigh of relief, but felt a pang of guilt as she saw the contestant with a boyfriend sigh and dejectedly put her head down as said boyfriend moved her away from the others, presumably for some sort of pep talk. Liam elbowed her lightly, noticing the lovers as well, but he wasn't so rash as to point them out so loudly. Brielle wondered, if whenever someone was denied access to the next round, their hopes, dreams, or motivations were shattered in the process. Oh, but certainly hers wouldn't, she decided with resolution.

Once the battle between the Pichu girl and a boy with an interesting name was finished, the Pichu girl went back inside, smiling just a little - but neither of the neighbors noticed that little change. They were too busy looking up at the screen, where the next matchup was Brielle and Elliot.

Liam was excited for this battle, knowing it was Brielle's first official fight. "This is gonna be interesting," he said to the both of them, looking at them with bright eyes. "Good luck, you two."

Brielle simply nodded, stood up, and began to walk towards the stage. She knew what the boy with multiple personalities was like in battle, certainly. The only thing she was unsure of was of how she was going to utilize that knowledge correctly.

Following Elliot's finishing of his appeal, those who passed the appeal round were shown.

"Oh man, the moment of truth!" Liam whispered excitedly, although his friend Brielle remained silent.

Elliot looked to the screen and saw himself as one of the passing contestants. He silently smirked. Had their ever been any doubt? He barely even noticed most of the remaining seven contestants, considering them beneath him. The girl from the excessively-romantic couple was dejected at finding herself not among the passing candidates, but even though Elliot noticed, he still thought nothing of the other coordinators.

Until Brielle was revealed as the final contestant. On top of that, she was paired against Elliot in the battle rounds.

Well, what have we here? Elliot thought with a smirk. This should be most interesting.

The first match was between a girl with a Pichu and a rather uniquely-named boy with a Pawniard. Once the Pichu girl won, Brielle headed out to the stage. Elliot allowed her to go first, ignoring Liam's wishing of good luck to the both of them as the Piplup trainer also left the room.

Elliot took the stage, Piplup's Pokeball in hand. Once Marian finished her announcements, he gave Brielle one of his sinister smirks.

"Well, shall we begin?" Elliot grinned. "Piplup, fight!"

Piplup appeared and tensed its body, both it and its trainer awaiting Brielle's Pokemon of choice...

Around the same time Brielle left for the stage, Elliot followed suit, appearing on the other side of the battlefield. Again came that unsettling smirk as he summoned his only Pokemon, Piplup. Brielle thought for a moment; Cottonee would've been the best choice if it actually knew any damaging moves. Leech Seed and Stun Spore, while useful, would only manage to get her so far. Besides, didn't the Piplup know Peck?

She reached for Duskull's Pokeball again, and wordlessly threw it onto the stage. Out floated Duskull, who awaited Brielle's command.

Liam watched this with a curious look on his face as the timer began to tick down. What could a Duskull do in the battle rounds, where not only strength but beauty was a must?

"Duskull, begin with Night Shade, and make it intricate," Brielle said calmly, and the ghost nodded. Quickly, his eyes glowed, and out came a dark-shaded energy beam. The shot had been specifially aimed so that it ricoched from the floor to the ceiling, before bouncing into the general direction of Elliot's Piplup. Brielle adjusted her trilby hat, wondering if Elliot was going to do anything at all about the dark beam headed right at his Pokemon.